Portwell - Tumblr Posts
TEAM EJ DEFENSE SQUAD —
I had a deep conversation with the amazing @tay-words WHO BROUGHT UP THE BEST THEORY EVER:
What if the reason EJ was characterised in this horrible light is because everything he went through was filmed on camera without him knowing?!
It makes sense if Channing captured moments like:
• EJ talking to Miss Jenn about wanting Gina to shine
• EJ in the office breaking down
• EJ talking to Val and maybe verbalising (to himself!!) for the first time that he loves Gina??
• EJ on the phone trying to stand up to his dad (!!)
So when the documentary trailer premieres (or leaks maybe), everyone will realise how tough he’s had it (Ashlyn not reaching out to her cousin at all is insane to me?!) and Gina especially will have insight into why the summer turned out the way it did. Maybe her “wish” will come up again?!
IMAGINE 🫠
Lost focus and had a consensual workplace relationship
then somebody bends, unexpectedly as a netflix show @lovelyserpentines
night strolls with portwell as they get sappy and goof off on facetime :)
hc set in the tsbuverse (because what other universes are there?)
Ok so I just rewatched the Valentines episode and the background music in the scene with Gina and Ricky in his new apartment where she tells him, “…every girl loves a sweet gesture, i speak from experience” is the same background music as when in 209 EJ picks her up from the airport!
I don’t know if the same music is in any other scenes, but I love the foreshadowing that they dropped this so early in the season. It makes Ricky’s line that “I think you’ll get yours too” so much better that, we now know SHE DID GET HER SWEET GESTURE!!!!!
portwell x something there
soo since i literally cannot wait to see if something there will be portwell related, i wanna connect the lyrics of the song to some of their moments. i'm like 99.9% sure that this has been done before and isn't a new thing so yea.
There's something sweet, and almost kind But he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined And now he's dear, and so unsure I wonder why I didn't see it there before
since this verse is supposed to be from gina's perspective, it might refer to the change that she sees in ej from season 1 going into season 2. i think back to how ej was portrayed as a villain and used as an obstacle for both rini and nini. despite his struggles, he became much more open not only to himself, but also to his friends.
She glanced this way, I thought I saw And when we touched, she didn't shudder at my paw No, it can't be, I'll just ignore But then she's never looked at me that way before
the entire verse absolutely screams heart eyes. cue portwell lovingly staring at eachother:
1. carlos's quinceañero
2. north high lookout
3. during career day sitting close to eachother
4. the couch convo
5. airport scene
6. right after gina thanked him for the plane ticket
i absolutely love the line she didn't shudder at my paw because it could be so easy for gina to just reject ej's sweet gestures (like a metaphorical paw) and see him only as the guy in season 1. instead, she's so warm towards him. that's not only called love, but also deep affection and care. i also feel like the line has the meaning that despite their differences (like belle being a human and the beast a mix of animals), they are willing to work together and understand eachother. ex. ej asking gina to describe moving around a lot and gina not not relating to ej having his life planned out.
New, and a bit alarming Who'd have ever thought that this could be? True, that he's no Prince Charming But there's something in him that I simply didn't see
while they have some nice moments in season 1, i feel as though ej and gina have only just now started to realize their feelings for each other and how immense they actually are. i love true, that he's no prince charming because it kinda goes back to the couch scene in 2x08 when gina acknowledges that although he fails a lot, ej keeps on trying to be better.
i also love how in 2x09, gina admits that things may be different between her and ej, something that she’s never seen before.
risotto night
i'm not sure if they will actually show the portwell date happening in the show, but if they did, here's how i think it should go:
location: fancy italian restaurant (because i don't think salt lake slices has risotto lmao)
ash helps gina get ready and she looks absolutely gorgeous. as she finishes up, the doorbell rings. ash runs to get the door. it's ej all dressed up. she starts squealing with happiness and motions for him to come in and sit down. she tells him how happy she is for both of them and warns him not to hurt her. just then, gina comes into the room. ej's face lights up and he stands to go to her. he tells her how beautiful she looks and hugs her. gina smiles fondly, ash standing behind them looking like a proud mother with a daughter. she jokingly tells them to be home by 11. they go out to ej's car.
at the restaurant, they sit in a corner by the window. the lights are dim and the walls are covered with vines and exposed brick to add to the ambiance. they order 2 bowls of risotto.
as they wait for their food, gina and ej reminisce all of their little moments together and gina expresses once again how grateful she is to have him. ej responds by saying that having her in his life makes him so much happier than he could've ever imagined.
as they leave the restaurant and drive back to ash's house, they talk about what a magical night this was and gush over the food. as gina is about to head out of the car, she says something along the lines of:
i'm still in shock that you remembered risotto night at north high and gives him a soft kiss on the cheek.
with a smile, ej says: you know i would never miss risotto night
now picture this, but with the something there instrumental playing in the background. boom.
gina running towards ej instead of running away (I’m safer when I’m on the run)!!!!!!
omg yes! so poetic! i also wanted to add they almost foreshadowed this idea about the plane taking off in 2x09 with jack saying the most dangerous part of the flight is taking off, not landing. Coming back to the lyric, “I’m safer when I’m on the run”, if running away= plane landing/going down is safer, like in hsm opening night when she is running away. then plane taking off (with ej) is more dangerous scarier and out of her comfort zone. but despite this she still takes off and takes her second chance and can fly with the right guy even if she is afraid she might fall. also making jack more of a portwell plot device to push them together. then after she takes that chance and asks ej to kiss him, taking off running toward him. like a plane on a runway. (changing the running away to running toward) even though it was dangerous and risky it was worth the risk for the chance to fly. and take off was successful because it was with the right guy!! more risk =more reward
thinking about gina’s line “maybe i’m safer when i’m on the run” and how it’s implied that she’s safer when she’s going from place to place with her mom because she doesn’t have time to open up her heart, but do you know where she runs the next time we see her running?? she runs towards ej. even when she tried to be “safer on the run” (whether that be moving in 1x10 or seeing her mom on break), ej was always the one there to bring her back from the airport where she belonged, which goes into the line “i got a second chance to fly.” airports have kind of become a portwell icon, and gina’s second chance to fly isn’t actually flying on a plane to run away, but to fly with ej and have him be her first kiss (and eventual boyfriend). she’s safer on the run because she’s running towards her person and she’s got a second chance to fly with ej instead of away from him.
Thoughts when rewatching High School Musical
after being obsessed with High School Musical: the Musical the Series
pretty much just a bunch of parallels i noticed
Mostly how the characters in HSMTMTS match the characters they played with their season 1 arcs with a few exceptions.
1. I knew Chad carries his basketball everywhere, but boy he carries it everywhere…“She thinks I’m a Chad?!?” yeah you did bring a basketball to your audition so you sorta brought this on yourself Eej. He also just has a very Chad vibe I can’t explain.
2. Portwell in season 1 matches Taylor and Chad in just about every interaction they have from Taylor laughing at Chad up to Chad and Taylor scheming to get Troy and Gabriella out of the audition. Very wonderstudies with bad plans that don’t work out but then becoming the ones who go above and beyond to get Troy and Gabriella/ Ricky and Nini onstage for the callback/show for Breaking Free.
3. Troy sneaking through the building running around to auditions felt like a very Ricky move.
4. The only thing Seb and Sharpay have in common is that they deserved the lead and are under appreciated.
5. Alan the kid with the tie, who wrote his lines on his hands in the audition was giving me vibes of the kid who played Coach Bolton and sang Wondering in s2 auditions.
6. Ashlyn is Kelsi. Period. I love wondering for Ms. Darbus but like also it fits Kelsi too. And a Kelsi solo number would be like soooo good. The girl was frequently under appreciated I feel like she deserved it more than Ms. Darbus. Also since they are both songwriters.
7. And Ryan is not the brightest but always there with a funny one liner like Seb or Big Red, idk which he is more like.
8. Balcony scene- it mirrors the portwell couch scene so perfectlyi’m half convinced they copied the script. Also two seasons in and no one has ever gone on the balcony of the school and I want that so badly i don’t even know which couple should get it.
My findings are that Portwell season 1 is like Taylor and Chad and season 2 is Troyella. Almost like the wonderstudies got their chance to play both parts.
Also- How much time spans throughout the movies specifically between auditions and callbacks? Aren’t callbacks are usually within a week of the initial audition? the movie felt like more than a week
my favourite thing about portwell is how they literally found themselves through finding each other.
so s1 ej was obviously very selfish and didn't care how his actions effected others. we saw him acknowledge his flaws and try to repent, but he was still only doing it to make himself feel better and to improve his image. as soon as he develops feelings for gina, we can see him find the joy in doing things for other people just because you want them to be happy. he discovers his huge heart and realises that he would embarrass himself, go out of his way and change his plans to help gina.
s1 gina was so closed off and cold because she refused to get attached to anything and risk leaving it behind. she also always put herself first and didn't care about others. ej being so kind to her, but never expecting anything in return, slowly allowed her to open up and trust people again. she is being shown unconditional love for the first time in her life and it's allowed to become her most authentic self. by the end of s2 gina is so much more confident and sure in who she is. she's learned that she does not have to perfect to be worthy of love and she doesn't have to compete for it either.
the way they treat each other has allowed them both to trust people again, and be comfortable enough to be fully themselves.
you mfs shitting on ej for “not being supportive of gina”????? he got this massive project thrown on him at the last second (that’s gonna be aired on Disney+ may I add), is making sure that all of the campers are still having a great experience like he used to have, AND he made time in his busy ass schedule to find flowers (and that bouquet was actually adorable i want no slander for that) and come visit gina to congratulate her. while he may not have said much and been spaced out, he has a lot on his plate and he’s trying his damndest to balance both the musical, gina, and the other campers. don’t you dare say he’s putting one of those things above the others. babes is only 18 and us totally allowed to be stressed out. no ej slander here. ej caswell is the best boyfriend stfu <3
I'm in love with this episode :)
I've seen a lot of takes floating around about how we shouldn't make excuses for EJ/Gina/Ricky while talking about the others' mistakes. I can't help but wonder -
Am I the only one that's Team-Make-excuses-for-everybody?
Because fundamentally these characers are pretty young and that summer of firsts has put a lot on their plates.
EJ - isn't spending enough time with his girlfriend and friends? Yeah, because he was slapped with the huge responsibility of making a blockbuster musical work in a few weeks and nobody is helping him. (They are learning their lines and cues to be fair, but no one offered to help him plan for the read-through in that tent? Not one person?)
He's not telling Gina about the letter until she finds out for herself? That's absolutely bad, but he was planning on telling her after he had sorted it out. Which, let's be real, wasn't going to happen before the end of the summer after the documentary came out, so his plan really wasn't very likely to go well and even if it did, he would have still been in the wrong for not confiding in her.
But it makes sense, too. When we first meet EJ, he's a jock who gets leads in the musicals. A popular kid with grades impressive enough to make it reasonable for him to get into Duke. He's also prone to schieming and sabotage and has no clue how to sincerely apologize. We later find out that there's a lot of pressure to be perfect from his dad. You can't tell me that EJ grew up in an environment where it would have been acceptable for him to be vulnerable about something he was struggling with unless it was already in the past and he had already handled it. There's a reason this kid doesn't know how to apologize and I'd wager it's the same reason he doesn't know how to talk to his girlfriend about a something he doesn't yet know how to fix.
That doesn't make it okay, but it makes it understandable and I'm willing to make excuses for him and sympathize with him anyway.
Gina - is being passive-aggressive towards her boyfriend instead of talking to him directly? Yeah, because she's discovered that he's hiding something from her and I think the first few jabs were meant to give him the hint that he should maybe explain himself before she would bring it up. She's been busy with getting the lead in Frozen and trying to be 'a good girlfriend' for the first time, only to learn that EJ is hiding something from her and has been confiding in someone else about it instead. That would upset anybody. And I truly believe that most of her anger has been her trying to force a conversation, even if it wasn't in the healthiest way. Which is perfectly understandable.
She's also showing glimpses of old habits? Of course she is - ambition is not inherintly a bad character trait and "Gina 1.0" wasn't very long ago, so of course she has that ambition in her still. (Tbh I have a whole analysis in defense of Gina 1.0 that I wrote when I first watched that ep, so if anyone's interested in reading that I might still post it.)
And Ricky - has a crush on Gina while she's in a relationship with EJ? Yeah, that happens. It's already tough to rebuild a friendship after having had crushes even when those romantic feelings haven't lingered. Trying to navigate a friendship while having a crush on an unavailable friend is deeply complicated.
And that is what he's trying to do! He's not trying to interfere in portwell at all. We know what Ricky looks like when he's trying to sabotage a relationship and this isn't that. (I could make a whole other post about that difference tbh.) This is Ricky and Gina, who never got closure on their feelings for each other, trying to act like the casual friends they were before she ever pulled away from him. Only their casual friendship was founded on electric understanding that was likely already hurtling towards something way back then - so finding a new normal, that will actually look casual to the outside world (nevermind feel casual), is a tall order for both of them. (Not saying their attempt at friendship will leave them driving off into the sunset together anytime soon! Just saying that they've got a difficult goal here and it's bound to be awkward as they try to figure out new boundaries.)
At the end of the day, these characters are all trying to navigate pretty complicated romantic situations while also having a lot of other stuff going on at the same time. Be that the musical, the documentary, pressure from home, having to defend your ambitions to your best friends, or having to find your place in a group where some of your strongest connections were your ex, your ex-friend who you have a crush on that can't be more. (And I'd also list Ricky's friendship with Carlos here, but tbh their friendship is pretty uncomplicated so it's not relevant to my point right now.)
Of course all of them are going to make mistakes, but they're all very understandable. The discourse around not laying blame at only one character's feet feels to me a bit like people trying to justify their fave or even their ship at the expense of (more) nuance. (Which is also totally fair, I just felt like I had to throw my own take into the ring as well.)
“I’m going to stay here. I need to be here in case he wakes up.”
Hoop Dynamics Chapter 15 by @aroundthewaygirlao3
